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Arizona  Mining  Company, 

Its   Mines,    Property  and 
Organization. 

1863. 


THE 


Arizona  Mining  Company, 

Its   Mines,    Property  and 
Organization. 

1863. 


.2 

.nil 

X 


Davison  &  Ward,  Printers, 

4.3  Montgomery  Street, 

Jerfey  City. 


Arizona   Mining   Company. 


Organized  under  the  Incorporation  Law  of 
the  State  of  New  York. 

Its  capital  is  divided  into  30,000  fhares  of 
$100  each. 

Its  bufinefs  is  the  mining  of  iilver  and  other 
ores,  and  the  production  of  bullion  in  the  New 
Territory  of  Arizona. 

The  headquarters  of  the  company  are  at  the 
town  of  Tubac,  near  the  overland  mail  route  to 
California,  by  way  of  El  Pafo  and  San  Diego, 
and  acceffible  by  a  good  waggon  route  of  157 
miles  in  length,  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  at  the 
Ports  of  Lobos  and  Libertad. 

The  property  of  the  company  confifts  of  a 
celebrated  ranche,  known  as  Arivaca  or  Aribac, 
comprifing  feventeen  thoufand  acres,  on  which 
are  found  numerous  veins  of  gold  and  iilver,  and 
it  abounds  in  pafturage,  tillable  land,  timber  and 
never-failing  water.  This  property  was  famous 
in  the  days  of  Jefuit  miflions.  They  own  alfo 
the  mines  of  the  Cerro  Colorado  Mountains, 
including  the  famous  Heintzelman  mine,  named 
in  honor  of  Major  General  Heintzelman,  U.  S.  A. 
who  fuperintended  and  cordially  aided  its  early 
development. 

Over 


(     4     ) 

Over  $100,000  worth  of  filver  has  been  ex- 
tradted  from  this  mine,  while  it  was  held  by  the 
Sonora  Exploring  and  Mining  Company,  of 
Ohio,  from  whom  it  was  purchafed;  but,  the 
want  of  a  Territorial  Government,  and  military 
protection,  from  the  thieving  Apache  Indians,  as 
well  as  the  lack  of  capital  adequate  to  the  effed:- 
ive  working,  ^hd  equipment  of  the  mines,  have 
retarded  the  fuccefs  which  their  richnefs  in  the 
moft  valuable  iilver  ores,  abundantly  guarantee. 

The  Territory  of  Arizona  was  organized  dur- 
ing the  laft  feffion  of  Congrefs,  and  its  territo- 
rial officers  are  now  in  the  performance  of  their 
duty  at  Tucfon,  with  full  military  protedlion,  and 
with  power  to  call  for  more  troops  from  the 
commanding  general  of  California,  in  whofe 
command  the  Territory  is  included. 

This  Territory  has  an  area  three  times  the  iize 
of  the  State  of  New  York:  It  is  bounded  on 
the  north  and  weft  by  California,  on  the  eaft  by 
New  Mexico,  and  on  the  fouth  by  Sonora,  from 
whence  a  large  fupply  of  {killed,  reliable  and 
cheap  labor,  as  well  as  animals  and  agricultural 
produce  can  be  obtained. 

Its  climate  is  dry  and  healthy,  and  at  all  fea- 
fons  of  the  year  favorable  to  the  cheap  procefs 
of  treating  filver  ore  ufed  by  the  Mexicans,  and 
called  the  Patio  procefs,  which  is  faid  to  be  eco- 
nomical for  the  treatment  of  the  poorer  ores, 
while  the  richer  portions  are  fmelted  in  furnaces 
or  amalgamated  with  quickfilver  by  the  "  Frei- 
berg barrel-procefsy'  or  an  improved  "Wajhoe 
procefs''  The 


(     5     ) 

The  main  highway  for  the  tranfit  of  fupplies 
and  products  will  be  by  the  waggon  road  before 
named,  as  extending  to  the  ports  of  Lobos  and 
Libertad,  and  recently  explored  and  reported  on 
by  Major  Fergufon,  U.  S.  A. 

This  road  is  through  a  comparatively  level 
country,  with  numerous  villages  and  a  peaceable 
population  engaged  in  agricultural  purfuits  and 
mining. 

Up  the  Gulf  of  California  to  Guaymas,  Lo- 
bos, and  up  the  Rivers  Colorado  and  Gila  a  vaft 
emigration  and  fupplies  of  mining  tools  and  ne- 
cefTaries  are  now  pouring  to  the  placer  gold  fields 
and  filver  mines  of  Arizona.  Six  velTel  loads  of 
fupplies  and  tools  recently  failed  from  San  Fran- 
cifco  to  one  commercial  house  at  Fort  Yuma, 
and  in  a  few  months  when  thefe  mines  have 
been  vifited,  and  their  value  known,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  like  the  Wafhoe  mines  the  price 
of  Ihares  now  eftimated  in  tens  will  be  counted 
in  thoufands  of  dollars. 

In  that  northern  region  of  Wafhoe,  which  is 
no  richer  than  the  Cerro  Colorado,  Arivaca,  or 
Santa  Rita  diftridts  of  Arizona — mines  which 
were  hawked  about  the  ftreets  of  San  Francifco 
by  men  with  bags  of  fpecimens,  and  fold  at  $io, 
$20  and  $30  per  fhare  two  years  fince,  are  now 
paying  regular  monthly  dividends  of  $100  and 
%\^o  per  fhare  in  gold. 

The  Ophir  Company  (mining  filver)  yielded 
lafl:  year  $3,840,000.  The  Gould  &  Curry, 
about  $1,500,000. 

We 


{     6     ) 

We  are  encouraged  to  believe  from  the  tefti- 
mony  of  all  who  have  feen  the  mines  of  this 
company,  that  with  energy,  capital  and  judgment 
they  may  be  made  equal  to  any  in  the  world. 

The  analyfis  of  the  ores  by  fcientific  men, 
confirms  this  view,  as  they  are  unfurpalTed  in 
richnefs,  and  the  workings  now  extended  in  one 
fhaft  to  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  depth, 
where  the  vein  is  found  to  have  gradually  wid- 
ened from  three  to  five  feet,  together  with  other 
fmaller  openings  made  along  the  line  of  the 
vein,  have  clearly  demonftrated  the  permanency 
and  enormous  value  of  the  Heintzelman  Mine. 

A  ftatement  is  hereto  appended,  made  by  Col. 
Andrew  Talcott,  late  of  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment, U.  S.  A.,  the  laft  Superintendent  of  the 
Ohio  Company,  at  the  mines;  different  analyfis 
of  the  ores,  alfo  fome  extradts  from  various 
writers  on  the  fubjedl  of  this  property,  as  well 
as  Arizona  generally. 

The  mining  for  filver  on  the  Pacific  flope  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  has  ceafed  to  be  an  ex- 
periment, or  a  matter  of  adventurous  fpecula- 
tion.  '  It  is  a  legitimate  and  perfectly  fafe  bufi- 
nefs,  when  condudled  with  ordinary  prudence, 
by  men  of  fkill  and  intelligence. 

The  coinage  of  the  Mexican  Mint  during 
thirty  years  amounted  to  $453,665,367,  and 
Humboldt  efliimated  the  produd:s  of  the  mines 
of  Mexico  up  to  1803  at  $1,767,952,000. 

The  Fagoaga  family,  according  to  Humboldt, 
derived  in  the  fliort  fpace  oi  five  months  from  a 

front 


{     7     ) 

front  of  one  hundred  and  two  feet  in  the  outcrop- 
ping of  a  iilver  mine,  a  net  profit  of  $4,000,000. 

In  the  mining  diftrid:  of  Catorce,  in  the  fpace 
of  two  years  and  a  half,  between  1781  and  the 
end  of  1783,  an  ecclefiaftic  named  Juan  Flores, 
mined  $3,500,000  on  ground  full  of  chloride  of 
filver  and  of  Colorados,  The  Count  de  Regla 
obtained  a  net  profit  of  over  $5,000,000*  in 
twelve  years.  For  forty  years,  from  1771  to 
181 1,  the  Valenciana  mines  opened  by  the  Count 
of  that  name,  yielded  annually  from  $400,000 
to  $600,000,  and  in  fome  years  $1,250,000 
net  profit. 

Zambrano  paid  as  his  tax  to  government  (of 
one-fifth  the  proceeds  of  his  mine),  $1 1,000,000. 

Zuniga,  owner  of  the  Mine  Santa  Anna,  left 
to  his  children  $4,000,000. 

The  Real  del  Monte  mine,  which  bears  fimi- 
lar  ore  to  that  of  the  Heintzelman,  but  of  an 
average  yield  of  only  $52  to  the  ton,  has  pro- 
duced in  five  years,  -  -  $1 1,823,803 
The  yield  in  1853  was  -  -  i>5 37*769 
"       1857  -         -  3,039.016 

Thefe  are  fome  of  the  refults  of  deep  min- 
ing in  Central  Mexico,  while  Humboldt,  Ward, 
Wilfon,  Muller  and  Ehrenberg,  all  concur  in  the 
belief,  confirmed  by  the  difcoveries  already  made, 
that  the  northern  mines  would  produce  rich  ores 
nearer  the  furface. 

The  richeft  Mexican  mine  at  the  prefent  time 
is  the  "Veta  Grande."  The  product  in  metal 
has  amounted  to  153,000  pounds  Troy  of  filver, 

realizing 


.     (     8     ) 

realizing  $2,117,000  per  annum,  which  gave  as 
a  net  profit  to  the  proprietors  $856,200  per  an- 
num. The  original  inveftment  was  $750,000. 
Befides  paying  this  back,  it  has  returned  700  per 
cent,  on  the  original  amount  inverted.  This 
mine  has  been  worked  over  one  hundred  years. 
The  lateft  accounts  we  have  of  it  fay  that  it  was 
producing  fome  $200,000  per  month. 

The  Potofi  mine  was  difcovered  in  1545,  and 
has  furnifhed  an  amount  of  filver  which  Hum- 
boldt eftimates  at  $1,150,000,000.  The  prefent 
annual  yield  is  about  $800,000. 

The  Gould  &  Curry  mine  of  Nevada  Terri- 
tory has  divided  among  its  ftockholders  $1,- 
528,800  in  ten  months,  and  at  the  rate  of  the 
paft  few  months,  $2,160,000  a  year. 

The  fhares  coft  the  original  proprietors  $3, 
on  which  $149  were  fubfequently  paid  as  afTeif- 
ments. 

From  the  ist  of  July,  1861,  when  they  flood 
at  $350,  they  rofe  in  the  fall  of  1862  to  $6,000 
per  fhare. 

The  Spitaler  Gang  Mines  of  Hungary  have 
been  worked  for  800  years. 

The  mines  of  Mexico  are  innumerable,  which 
range  from  1,000  to  1,500,  and  a  large  number 
from  1,500  to  2,500  feet  in  depth. 

The  prefent  Board  of  Dirediors  have  done  all 
they  can  to  promote  the  beft  intereft  of  this 
company  and  place  it  on  a  firm  footing. 

Samuel  Butterworth,  Esquire,  formerly  in 
charge  of  the  U.  S.  AiTay  Office  in  New  York, 

now 


(     9     ) 

now  in  San  Franfifco,  has,  at  the  earneft  folid- 
tation  of  parties  holding  the  largeft  intereft  in 
this  Company,  exprefled  his  wilhngnefs  to  take 
charge  of  the  bufinefs  of  the  Company  here,  and 
has  now  gone  to  examine  the  mines  with  C.  D. 
Pofton,  the  Pioneer  of  that  country,  and  now 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs. 

John  D.  Maxwell,  is  the  Treafurer,  and 
Charles  Hopkins,  Secretary  of  the  Company. 

The  Company  have  fecured  the  fervices,  as 
Chief  Engineer  and  Director  at  the  mines,  of 
M.  O.  Davidfon,  formerly  Chief  Engineer  of 
the  Maryland  Coal  Company,  lately  Chief 
Engineer  of  the  Havana  Rail  Road  in  Cuba. 

The  indomitable  energy,  and  eminent  fcientific 
ability,  fhown  by  this  gentleman  in  grappling 
with  engineering  difficulties  in  the  Cumberland 
Coal  Region,  and  in  his  control  of  organized 
labor,  his  long  experience,  his  knowledge  of  the 
Spanifh  language,  and,  above  all,  his  high  integ- 
rity as  a  man,  all  combine  to  give  the  Company 
aflurance  of  fuccefs,  and  an  honeft  adminiftration 
at  the  mines. 

Norman  B.  Higgins,  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Genth, 
of  Philadelphia  (one  of  our  moft  eminent  ana- 
lytical chemifts),  who  has  had  practical  expe- 
rience in  mining  and  metallurgy,  the  conftrud:ion 
of  furnaces,  &c.,  and  great  fuccefs  in  the  deful- 
phurization  of  ores,  has  been  employed  by  the 
Company  to  take  charge  of  the  metallurgical 
operations  at  the  Cerra  Colorado.  It  will,  I 
truft,  appear  from  the  foregoing  ftatement  of 

fadts, 

B 


(      lo     ) 

fafts,  that  the  Arizona  Mining  Company  pur- 
pofes  to  carry  on  the  legitimate  bufinefs  of  min- 
ing, and  to  fecure  the  beft  talent  and  higheft  in- 
tegrity it  can  influence  ;  that  neither  the  property 
may  be  injured  by  unfkillful  mining,  or  money 
Iquandered  in  ufelefs  experiments. 

If  a  reafonable  time  be  accorded  for  the  de- 
velopment of  fo  large  a  property,  the  Diredtors 
of  this  enterprife  are  confident  of  obtaining  re- 
fults  which  will  fatisfy  any  rational  man. 

W.  M.  B.  Hartley. 

New  Torky  i  Dec,  1863. 


Appendix. 


The  following  is  a  report  made  to  the  Sonora 
Exploring  and  Mining  Company  by  Col.  Tal- 
cott,  in  1 86 1  : — 

"  Report  showing  the  quantity  and  value  of 
Silver  Ore  yielded  by  the  Heintzelman  Mine, 
how  difpofed  of,  and  where  that  on  hand  is  fitu- 
ated,  on  the  ist  of  July,  i860. 

Pounds. 

Sold  and  taken  by  purchafers  to  Sonora,    -         -         -  3, 880 

Sent  by  the  Company  to  San  Francifco,          -         -         -  44,037 

Sent  by  the  Company  to  Cincinnati,         -         .         .  1,400 

Smelted  by  the  Company,    ------  18,991 

Reduced  by  amalgamation  at  the  Arivaca  Works  of  the 

Company, -         .  586,700 

Total  Sold  and  Reduced,    .         .         -  655,008 

Remaining  at  Cerra  Colorado,       -----      129,500 
On  hand  at  Arivaca,        -         -  -         -         ,         -  443,700 

Total  Ore  on  hand,        .         -         -         .      573,200 

Total  product  of  the  Mine,  -  -  1,228,208 
The  655,008  lbs.  Sold  and  Reduced  yielded  the  Company  $45,010  28 
Allow  for  Ore  on  hand  $90  per  ton,     -         -         .         -  25,794  °*^ 

Value  of  Ore  raised,  -        .         -         -      $70,804  28 

Note. — Except  at  great  expenfe  the  area  of 
the  vein  that  has  been  worked  out,  cannot  be 
meafured.  Mr.  Pofton,  the  Superintendent, 
eftimates  it  at  lefs  than  9,000  fquare  feet.  Af- 
fuming  this  to  be  corred:,  the  average  yield  to  a 
fquare  foot  of  the  vein  has  been  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-fix  pounds  of  ore,  and  of  the 

value 


(  12  ) 

value  of  $7  87.  At  this  rate  1,000  lineal  feet 
of  the  vein  worked  to  the  depth  of  only  fix 
hundred  feet,  would  produce  ore  to  the  value  of 
$4,722,000* 

The  accompanying  fketch  fhows  the  working 
as  far  as  acceffible  at  this  time.  All  the  work- 
ing from  the  furface  has  been  filled  in. 

(S'd)      •  Andrew  Talcott, 

Arhacdy  July  23,  i860." 

A  report,  made  and  publifhed  in  the  Mining 
Magazine  and  Journal  of  Geology,  Vol.  XII, 
No.  65,  by  Profeflbr  Blake,  late  United  States 
Geologifl:  in  California,  gives  a  fuccindl  account 
of  filver  and  copper  mining  in  Arizona,  and  the 
following  afl!ays  of  filver  ores  from  the  Heintzel- 
man  Mine. 

The  average  of  eight  afl^ays  are  as  follows  : — 


Value  per  ton  of 

Grains  per  lb. 

Value  per  Ih. 

2,000  lbs,  of  ore. 

by  Profeflbr  Booth,   -     - 

247.80 

0.67 

$1,342   00 

*'              " 

a                 _       _ 

87.64 

0.2375 

475  00 

«i              <« 

Torrey,-     - 

51.99 

0.16 

322  94 

i(              (( 

Locke,  -     - 

79.10 

0.2150 

428  46 

H                     l( 

E.  Kinfey,  - 

239.40 

0.6483 

1,296  60 

•«               *t 

" 

525.00 

I. 4218 

2,843  60 

*'      Mining  Eng,  Tubac, 

345-33 

0-935 

1,870  40 

**             " 

li 

520.00 

1*4075 

2,816  60 

Total  eigh 

itafl*ays,   -     - 

2096.26 
262.03 

5.69.13 
0.71. 14 

$11,395  60 

Average,  - 

Si>4H  45 

The  firfl:  afl!ay  made  by  any  competent  author- 
ity was  done  by  Louis  A.  Garnett,  of  the  United 

States 

®  The  vein  has  been  explored  for  a  diflance  of  two  miles. 


(     13     ) 
States  Branch  Mint,  San  Frincifco,  with  the  fol- 
ing  refult  to  the  ton  of  2,000  pounds : — 

Silver-     ----.---.     7,040  ounces,  value  $8,624  oo 
Copper   -     -     - -         278  pounds,     "  iii   20 

$8,735  2» 

Recent  aflays  by  Dr.  Jackfon,  of  Bofton, 
showed  the  prefence  of  from  thirteen  to  fixteen 
per  cent  of  filver,  and  thirty-feven  to  thirty-eight 
per  cent  of  copper. 

He  regards  the  ore  as  a  ftromeyerite  or  fulphu- 
ret  of  filver  and  copper. 

Maffive  famples  of  the  ores,  as  they  come 
from  this  mine,  may  be  feen  at  the  office  of  the 
Company. 

According  to  Humboldt  and  Ward,  the  aver- 
age yield  of  the  mines  of  Mexico  is  two  and 
one-half  ounces  of  filver  to  the  one  hundred 
pounds.  The  value  of  ore  per  ton,  of  2,000 
pounds,  is  $65.  Bmaro^t  Llbrmy 

The  Ranche  belonging  to  this  Company  is 
thus  defcribed  by  a  report  of  the  Engineer  who 
firfl:  furveyed  it : — 

"  The  Arivaca  has  much  beautiful  meadow 
land,  fine  pafl:ure  on  the  Jow  furrounding  hills 
for  thoufands  of  cattle,  live  oak  grows  in  the 
gulches,  mesquite  on  the  hills,  and  on  the  lower 
ends  of  the  flireams  it  is  thickly  lined  for  five  or 
fix  miles  with  groves  of  cottonwood,  ash,  wal- 
nut, and  other  ufeful  woods  for  farming  and 
mining  purpofes,  in  fufficient  quantities  to  anfwer 
all  the  demands  of  the  two  diftridts." 

Since 


(     H     ) 

Since  this  time  an  accurate  topographical  fur- 
vey  has  been  made  of  the  ranche  by  Col.  A.  B. 
Gray,  formerly  Surveyor  of  the  Mexican  Boun- 
dary Commiflion. 

The  titles  to  this  ranche  were  examined  by 
Hon.  Thomas  Corwin,  then  an  eminent  jurift 
of  Ohio,  and  now  Minifter  to  Mexico,  and  he 
gave  his  opinion  "  that  the  titles  exhibited  to 
him  give  the  Company  a  perfe<5t  fee  fimple  in 
both  the  foil  and  minerals  of  that  property." 

A  decifion  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  relation  to  the  Maripofa  claim 
of  Gen.  Fremont,  confirms  this  opinion. 

The  property  is  in  full  and  undifputed  poflef- 
fion,  and  no  advefrfe  claims  exift. 

The  accompanying  map  will  fhow  the  pofition 
of  the  Company's  property  in  its  relations  to  the 
overland  route  and  ports  on  the  Gulf  of  Califor- 
nia, the  neareft  of  which  latter  is  only  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-feven  miles  diftant,  called  Liber- 
tad,  which  is  defcribed,  in  a  recent  San  Francifco 
paper,  as  "  having  been  adopted  by  the  United 
States  Government  for  the  tranfport  of  the  army 
supplies  to  Arizona  and  the  Mefilla  Valley,  and 
the  eventual  grand  depot  of  the  increafing  trade 
between  California,  Arizona,  Sonora,  &c. 


(     ^5     ) 


WHIPPLE'S  REPORT 

Of  the  Explorations  and  Surveys  of  the  Pacific 
Rail  Road,  Vol,  III,  Part  3,  pages  107-8, 
gives  the  following  extract : — 

Father  Marco  de  Nica's  Report. 

In  the  year  1539,  defcribes  the  City  of  Cevola 
as  "  fituated  upon  a  plain,  at  the  foot  of  a  round 
hill,  and  maketh  ihow  to  be  a  fair  city ;  and  is 
better  feated  *  than  any  that  he  has  feen  in 
thefe  parts.  The  houfes  were  builded  in  order,' 
according  as  the  Indians  had  told  him ;  *  all 
made  of  ftone,  with  divers  ftories  and  flat  roofs.* 
The  people  are  fomewhat  White;  they  wear 
apparel,  and  lie  in  beds ;  their  Weapons  are 
bows ;  they  have  Emeralds  and  other  jewels, 
although  they  efteem  none  of  much  as  Tur- 
quoifes,  wherewith  they  adorn  the  walls  of  the 
Porches  of  their  houfes,  and  their  apparel  and 
veflels;  and  they  ufe  them  inflead  of  Money 
throughout  all  the  Country.  They  ufe  veiTels  of 
Gold  and  Silver,  for  they  have  no  other  Metal. 
Whereof  there  is  greater  ufe  and  more  abundance 
than  in  Peru,  and  they  buy  the  fame  for  Tur- 
quoifes  in  the  Province  of  the  Pintados ;  where 
there  is  faid  to  be  Mines  of  great  abundance." 
In  the  mountains,  near  the  Valley  of  Tucfon, 

and 


(     i6     ) 

and  Santa  Cruz,  where  I  have  located  the  Pinta- 
dos, there  are  known  to  be  rich  Mines  of  Silver ; 
and  Gold  is  faid  to  be  abundant.  As  the  region 
now  belongs  to  the  United  States,  it  is  probable 
the  Mines  will  be  worked. 


EXTRACT 

From  Lieut,  Parke's  Report  of  the  Pacific  Rail 
Road  Survey^  1853.     Vol.  VII,  Page  33. 

In  Appendix  C  will  be  found  a  literal  tranfla- 
tion  of  a  copy  of  an  Archive  of  the  town  of 
Tucfon,  which  will  afford  fome  interefting  infor- 
mation concerning  that  fedlion  of  the  country. 

It  was  copied  from  the  original  by  permiffion 
of  Enfign  Jofe  Comaduran,  M.  A.,  who  had 
temporary  command  of  that  poft,  previous  to 
the  completion  of  the  boundary  line,  according 
to  the  provilions  of  the  Treaty. 

It  will  be  feen,  from  a  perufal  of  this  paper, 
that  mention  is  made  of  many  localities  where 
gold  and  filver  have  been  found  in  abundance. 
The  inhabitants  of  Tucfon,  at  the  prefent  day, 
confirm  'all  thefe  ftatements,  and  many  rich 
fpecimens  of  gold  fcales  and  quartz  fpecimens 
were  exhibited,  and  their  localities  defcribed  and 
pointed  out.  The  difficulties  of  working  the 
placers  and  veins  of  thefe  precious  metals  confift 

chiefly 


(     17    ) 

chiefly  in  the  want  of  water,  the  want  of  proper 
implements,  and  in  the  dangers  to  which  "prof- 
pedtors  "  and  miners  are  fubjedled  by  the  roving 
bands  of  Apaches,  who  dwell  in  the  mountain 
faftnefles.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that  the 
entire  fedtion  recently  acquired  by  the  Gadfden 
treaty  is  nearly  as  rich  in  Minerals  and  Metals  as 
California,  and  the  conftrudtion  of  a  rail  or 
wagon  road,  and  the  eflablifhment  of  frequent 
military  pofts,  will  ferve  to  develope  fpeedily  the 
immenfe  refources  of  this  nature,  which  now  lie 
hidden  in  the  mountain  gorges,  or  beneath  the 
furface  of  the  wide-fpread  plains. 


EXTRACT 

From    R.    A,    Wilson's    '' Hijiory   of  Mexico^ 
Page  387. 

He  fays,  proceeding  northward,  we  came  to  a 
fpot  the  moft  famous  in  the  world  for  its  pro- 
du6ls  of  filver :   the  Mine  of  Arazuma. 

For  near  a  century,  the  accounts  of  the  wealth 
of  this  mine  were  confidered  fabulous  ;  but  their 
literal  truth  is  confirmed  by  the  teftimony  of  the 
Engliih  Embafl^ador. 

After  examining  the  old  records  which  I  have 
quoted,  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  fads  furpaffed 
the  aftonifhing  report ;  for  in  Mexico,  the  pro- 

penfity 


(  i8  ) 
penfity  has  ever  been  to  conceal  rather  than 
over-eftimate  the  quantity  of  filver,  on  account 
of  the  King's  fifth  ;  yet  is  the  King's  fifth  aBually 
paidy  on  which  all  the  eftimates  of  the  produc- 
tion of  Sonora  filver  mines  are  bafed. 

Arazuma  (which,  in  the  report  of  the  Mineria 
that  I  have  tranflated  for  this  volume,  appears  to 
be  fet  down  as  Arizpa)  was,  a  hundred  years  ago, 
the  world's  wonder,  and  fo  continued  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  great  Apache  war,  a  few 
years  afterward. 

Men  feemed  to  run  mad*at  the  fight  of  fuch 
immenfe  mafl'es  of  virgin  filver,  and  for  a  time 
it  feemed  as  if  filver  was  about  to  lofe  its  value. 
In  the  midfl:  of  the  excitement,  a  royal  ordi- 
nance appeared,  declaring  Arazuma  a  "creation 
of  filver  "  (creador  de  plata)^  and  appropriating 
it  to  the  King's  use. 

This  put  a  fl:op  to  private  enterprife;  and, 
after  the  Indian  war  fet  in,  Arazuma  became 
almofl:  a  forgotten  locality ;  and  in  a  generation 
or  two  afterward,  the  accounts  of  its  mineral 
riches  began  to  be  difcredited. 

We  have  the  following  record  in  evidence  of 
the  mafl'es  of  filver  extracted  at  Arazuma. 

Don  Domingo  Afmendi  paid  duties  on  a  piece 
of  virgin  filver  which  weighed  two  hundred  and 
feventy-five  pounds. 

The  King's  Attorney  [fifed)  brought  fuit  for 
the  duties  on  feveral  other  pieces,  which  together 
weighed  4,033  pounds. 

Alfo,   for  the  recovery,  as  a  curiosity,  and, 

therefore. 


(     19     ) 

therefore,  the  property  of  the  King,  of  a  certain 
piece  of  filver  of  the  weight  of  2,700  pounds. 

This  is  probably  the  largeft  piece  of  pure  fil- 
ver ever  found  in  the  world,  and  yet  it  was  dif- 
covered  only  a  few  miles  diftant  from  the  con- 
templated track  of  our  Pacific  Rail  Road. 


V#"'"'^^^^ 


